ALBANY – State lawmakers said Tuesday they have a deal in place with the city’s five district attorneys to revamp the laws that govern evidence sharing at criminal trials.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) revealed the breakthrough to reporters as Gov. Kathy Hochul was an hour south in Ulster County at a press conference where she accused lawmakers of holding up the state budget over the issue.
“I believe we worked through, we have a framework on having the discovery issue resolved. I just briefed my conference and we’re in a good place,” Heastie told reporters.
Kathy Hochul is seen on Tuesday in Ulster County at a press conference slamming the legislature for, as she alleges, holding up the three-week-late state budget over the issue. Vaughn Golden/NY PostA spokesperson for state Senate Democrats said they’re also on board with the agreement, which became a sticking point as Hochul and the legislature blew past the April 1 budget deadline.
Prosecutors and other critics have been pushing to tweak the current law, arguing its deadlines result in cases being dismissed that would otherwise result in convictions.
According to sources familiar with the contents of the deal, it would:
- Narrow the scope of what evidence prosecutors must turn over from evidence “relevant” to the case to just evidence “related” to the charges,
- Make clear that judges should only dismiss cases where prosecutors did not exercise “due diligence,”
- Require that defense attorneys file a challenge over discovery within 35 days of prosecutors certifying to the court they’ve turned over evidence.
The legislature and DAs also agreed to add:
- Clarification that the “speedy trial” clock stops when a challenge over discovery is made, meaning defense attorneys can’t game the timeline to get a case tossed by running out the clock
- A stipulation that a prosecutor can be found to have not exercised “due diligence” in turning over evidence if the error harms the defendant’s case, thus giving the judge leeway to dismiss the case
Hochul so far isn’t taking the apparent agreement as a done deal.
“It sounds like very good news, doesn’t it,” she told The Post as she returned to the Capitol Tuesday afternoon.
Hochul, whose proposal wasn’t much different to lawmakers’ agreement, hasn’t held a meeting with legislative leaders since Thursday, sources said.
A spokesperson for the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) signaled to reporters in Albany that his chamber of the legislature has an agreement with the five city district attorneys to make changes to the discovery laws. Hans PenninkCritics advocating against Hochul’s proposed changes said they hadn’t seen the parameters of the deal yet.
“Public defenders have not seen any of this language, and before commenting further, we need to review the text in full,” a spokesperson for the Legal Aid Society told The Post.
Heastie’s announcement comes following a week of meetings between the legislative leaders and key DAs who made the trek to Albany to stump for the governor’s plan.
The speaker also noted that the deal he presented to rank-and-file members Tuesday had largely been worked out with the prosecutors as early as Saturday, even as Hochul proceeded to blame them for holding up the state budget..
She said in a press conference at her Manhattan office on Monday that lawmakers refused “to accept just common sense reforms.”
“You have to ask why she decided to still have a press conference when things were moving in that direction,” Heastie said.
Lawmakers approved a fifth budget extender Tuesday, keeping the state running through Thursday. It remained unclear when a final spending plan would be finalized.
